Betting patterns on snooker's Malta Cup spark match-fixing inquiry

The betting regulator, the Gambling Commission, has launched an investigation into suspicious betting patterns during last week's Malta Cup, according to The Guardian.

The tournament, whose round-robin format produced some matches with nothing at stake, came under scrutiny when bookmakers were alarmed by unusual flows of money during in-play markets.

The commission said it had received tip-offs about suspected match-fixing, which is a criminal offence which can carry a prison term of up to two years.

The commission has begun talks with snooker's governing body, World Snooker, which has pledged to analyse every match about which allegations have been made. Its spokesman said: "We have an agreement with the Association of British Bookmakers [ABB] whereby we are contacted confidentially if and when irregular betting patterns are detected."

However, there is concern about how far World Snooker's agreement on information-sharing extends. Despite several complaints from Betfair, the online betting exchange, snooker's officials prefer to deal only with the ABB.

World Snooker is unusual in not entering into a memorandum of understanding with Betfair. The governing body declined to comment on why it had no such agreement.